1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to instrument enclosures and, more particularly, a weather resistant housing suitable for an outdoor environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Marine radios and other instruments are often exposed to the elements. The effects of exposure to salt and fresh-water spray, mists, rain and fog can result in corrosion, deterioration and a build up of salt which can adversely affect electronic components and ultimately compromise any electronic equipment so exposed.
Enclosures have been available in the prior art to provide protection to audio electronic devices such as radios, tape and CD players which must be protected from the environment encountered on boats or other watercraft. The simplest provides an enclosure with a movable window that includes pins that ride in a groove as the window is manually rotated to a retracted position. This device lacks seals and requires care to keep the pins in their grooves.
Other unit includes a latch to hold the window closed which, when released, permits the window to rotate open under the influence of springs adjacent the pivots. A central tab is used to manually close the window and engage the latch.
Yet another device provides a bi-stable spring mounting so that when the window is manually rotated more than half-way, the springs take over and complete the action. Such a device therefore requires manual operation on both opening and closing.